Tai'Shar
by Ashtier Condar
Summary: It has been five years since Naruto went missing. Somewhere far away, possibly on another plane of existence, two souls are fiercly entangled... Naruto Soul Calibur crossover. Violent.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or Soul Calibur. Lord, I wish I did.**

(Authors Notes: This is pretty amateur work. I've never really written anything before, but dont be nice about it if you dont want to be. I respect solid criticism, as long as it is that and not justsome jerk babbling because he can.That being said, the more you help me with your reviews in telling me how I screwed up or telling me what I've done right, the better I can write, and the more I will in turn feel like writing. Thank you and hopefully you willenjoy.)

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**_Chapter One:_** **_Duel of the Damned_**

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_So there they stood, face to face, in the ruins of the once impenetrable castle's now-empty treasury. They paced around in each other in a circular pattern with their red eyes deadlocked onto each other, never blinking as if any moment could be their last. They had fought for days in this cursed land and it had taken them all across the once great castle. It had finally taken them to the place it all began, a long since completely looted treasury that once housed the great sword Grim Blade. The roof had been completely destroyed in a previous attack, but the great stone walls had still held together even after all this time. The castle truly was a marvel in its day… four great walls had once circled around its mighty towers and siege engines, backed with thousands of Stefan's finest mercenary knights. Now it was nothing but a mass grave… a cursed place no man dared to go._

_It was not simply the defeat of Stefan and Siegfried's mighty army that had made this place turn into such a terrible land, but it was Siegfried's treachery in the moment of absolute victory that had made the souls of the dead restless. Some thought the young commander did it to sell out to the Marquis Andre in favor of power; others dismissed the thought saying that many had seen the bastard running off with Stefan's famous sword, the Grim Blade, into the wilderness alone with plans to sell it. Others actually thought he was loyal until the end and tried to keep the blade from his enemies, and valiantly fought to the death in the black woods. All of them were wrong however. In truth, the boy was insane._

_The boy believed a legendary dark knight had murdered his father, and the only way he could avenge his father was by seeking out the ultimate weapon of his world, said to give invincible strength to its bearer. He would not return home to his widowed mother until his revenge had been exacted, and damn everyone that stood in his way. They were nothing. He did eventually find what he was looking for, or rather it found him. Unfortunately, things never turn out the way you expect them to… and for poor Siegfried this was no exception._

_Assuming a strange fighting stance with an eerily green glowing katana stood a strange man who donned a light-red suit of heavy samurai armor and a very obscure helmet, which revealed merely his red eyes. Also most noticeable was that his right arm was made out of wood, complete with moving parts that allowed it to turn and twist as he saw fit. As if things couldn't be any weirder about this 'man', he actually believed he was a ninja and not a samurai. His incredibly bizarre fighting style only further increased the confusion. Nobody ever asked for the 'mans' name, but sure enough, he always gave it before every battle and several times in-between._

"Now Yoshimitsu will defeat you, demon!"

_Directly opposite him stood another man, clad in azure plate armor who could only be described as a living Nightmare. He wore a frightening helmet with a spike sticking out the front that was tinted with blood, metal covering all but his eyes being completely shot blood red. His hair looked like it had been bleached of all life, and flowed with a crimson colored deadness to it. His right arm looked like a demonic hand with organic spikes shooting off the top of his wrist, only to be overshadowed by his three gigantic claws. His right shoulder bone spiked straight out of his skin and armor, as did the base of his spinal cord. All of his showing flesh looked either gray and dead, or red and demonic. Possibly more terrifying then any of that was the weapon he wielded, an obscenely oversized two handed sword shaped like half a triangle with fleshy veins flowing down the middle, as well as a gigantic living eyeball in the center of it. Even the hilt looked alive, and every time the weapon was swung it was with enough force to instantly kill several normal living men._

_Yoshimitsu, however, was not a normal man._

"**I'll show you… a REAL Nightmare!"**

The azure knight charged forward and spun his body to his right swinging his sword effortlessly with his left hand. As the first blow came around Yoshimitsu quickly ducked it, but as he was starting to come back up he barely noticed in time a second swing coming around. He managed to parry it but was thrown back against a wall by the force of his massive sword. The azure knight swung his blade over his back and decided to come in for the kill while his opponent was stunned. With great force he quickly made a powerful vertical strike that would have cleanly cut Yoshimitsu in half, as it had also cut the stone wall behind him in half.

As the dust settled there was a green flash of light that the knight was now all too familiar with. Quickly he swung his demonic arm around to catch Yoshimitsu's sword tightly as he blinked in behind him. "Not yet, demon!" cried Yoshimitsu as he twisted his sword and pulled downward slicing open his claw as he spun backwards now free. It was then that knight let out a terrifyingly inhuman cry that shook the walls. His claw would already be starting to heal, but his eyes quickly focused in on the 'ninja' with an absolute berserk intent to kill as black blood dripped slowly from his wound.

It was then that he raised his demonic sword to the sky as a pillar of darkness shot out as far as the eye could see and brought in black storm clouds. Within moments it was pouring and his weapon hummed with a new dark energy that seemed to bounce off of his weapon like electricity. Yoshimitsu kept his distance now and carefully monitored the situation, but his back was once again to the wall. He twitched momentarily as the knight swung his weapon in the air sending a wave of darkness at him.

"**SHATTER!"**

The 'ninja' quickly rolled under the wave and had a bit of a cold sweat as he watched the wall he was just standing against be blown in half horizontally. He quickly turned to face the knight as he let out an annoying high-pitched laugh.

"Well, it appears as though this stalemate must come to a close, demon! You leave me no other choice!" He proclaimed as he annoyingly danced around on one foot giving a mocking gesture with one arm extended. The knight, now almost completely covered in a dark aura, simply stared.

Yoshimitsu quickly spun around back and fourth, blinking from left to right, getting closer and closer to the knight. He had seen his movement before, and he always spun around at a speed that seemed like a green flash and tried to cut him from the side. **"The man was a fool to think he could get us this way again."** The knight thought. In anticipation he quickly moved his sword up to his left side to parry a blow from the left, and his right arm moved its upper side, the side which was so hardened it nearly acted like a shield, to his other side to deflect an incoming blow from there was well.

The ninja then blinked in front of him with his back turned at that very moment, and instead of slashing from either the left or the right as he expected, he did something no strategist, no matter how brilliant or how experienced, could have ever planned for. He stabbed HIMSELF through the stomach. Before the knight had any idea what just happened Yoshimitsu drove his back into the enemy impaling both of them into the now nearly crumbling wall.

"**YOU….!"**

"HUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOAAH!" The ninja cried out almost cheerfully as the knight tried to crush his shoulder with his claw. His sword however, he simply couldn't move due to the weight the ninja had pressed against it. The darkness around the knight moved almost instinctively around the ninja, as if trying to crush him.

"Now it is time to end this foolish struggle demon! Drop your sword and leave him be!" he shouted. The knight merely laughed and replied

"**Do you really think you have the upper hand here, fool?" **

Yoshimitsu sighed, as he was already starting gain momentum to push off of the wall.

"**I will enjoy breaking you in half, wretched human. I must thank you for the entertainment these last few days have been."**

The ninja simply slammed his elbow into the knight's chest to get momentum back in his favor.

"You speak small bits of truth among your shrouded lies! Very well then, you are too volatile for this world!"

'**_What is this fool talking about? Does he think he can actually win_?'** The knight laughed as he heard his shoulder breaking under the pressure of his claw. His laughter was suddenly silenced with an emotion he had not felt within hundreds of years of its existence. Fear. The ninja was now forming what appeared to be seals with his left hand at an incredible speed.

"**That is not possible, I killed all of your kind! That knowledge should have been erased from history!" **

The ninja simply smirked from under his mask. "Wouldn't that depend on who's history you are following, demon?" Not knowing what to expect, the knight subconsciously commanded his dark aura to shield him from whatever was coming.

As he formed the final seal the ninja slammed his foot into the ground dispelling all of the darkness that was wrapped around them as it let out a brilliant pillar of green light. The knight let out another inhuman cry as he was blinded. Pain thrashed throughout his whole body on a level he had not experienced in ages. Then, suddenly, it all left. He opened his eyes. The ninja was gone. The room was gone. Everything was gone.

Everything was blue, as far as the eye could see. It was like he was walking in the sky. He looked at his hands to see a pare of white human-sized gauntlets. Even his armor had changed back to his old suit of white. He was no longer attached to 'It'. He was free. Human again. He grabbed a hand full of his long hair and pulled it in front of his face to make sure this wasn't some kind of sick joke. It was the blonde he remembered it to be, so long ago. He felt like laughing, like rejoicing. He was his prisoner no longer; the bastardly dark knight who had killed his father was dead. He had to be, because he no longer had the sword. He no longer needed it.

Before he could rejoice, everything around him changed suddenly. He found himself standing in a large cave; the only source of light was a few dimly lit torches surrounding him. Before he could blink, he found himself chained to the ground staring at the roof of the great cavern.

"**What in gods name in this**?" He cried out. As he looked around frantically the ground started to glow in a strange spiral pattern at least fifty meters in diameter, and he was in the center of it. Nine shadows suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, like ghosts, and converged upon him. All he could see of them were dark shapes. One finally walked into view enough that he could see his dark red eyes.

"**Let me go, damn you**!" he demanded. As if he couldn't even hear him, the man with red eyes simply stared down. Suddenly a chilling voice spoke out that he could associate with him.

"Your usefulness has come to an end. Now you may die." A burst of lightning shot out from the man's hand as he thrust it into his helpless victim. Pain thrashed throughout the young mans body as he clenched his eyes shut as he screamed.

'**_No… this is… this isn't real. None of this is possible, it has to be an illusion by the damn sword. All of it!'_** He tried to regain his composure as he slowly opened his eyes again. No sign of the man, or the eight associated with him. Nothing at all.

Suddenly his surroundings had changed and he was standing on a dirt road. He saw a bunch of kids around sixteen years of age hiding in the bushes with weapons drawn, as well as a kid with dark armor and a helmet that had seemed to be their leader. As he turned around he saw a group of twelve knights on horseback, weary and beaten, heading down the road. He quickly ran up into the bushes.

"**What the hell are you guys doing**? **Those are people returning from the crusades, they are heroes! You can't do this**!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. None of them heard him however. As they got closer the knight in black armor jumped off of the ledge he had positioned himself on and tackled the leader off of his horse. As if on cue, the rest of his band charged out and got them totally off guard. The knights, being tired and weary, quickly lost to this surprise ambush.

The dark knight raised his sword high and cried out "Kill these traitorous bastards! Lets show them how cowards who run from their duty meet their fate!" The man in black armor charged the leader of the knights. For some reason, the leader had hesitated upon hearing his voice and simply stood there. Within moments, his head fell to the ground from a single strike of the dark knight. No more then a minute later after all the fighting had ceased, the man in black armor took off his helmet.

"**No more…."**

It revealed a blonde haired man who was smirking as if he had just done the greatest accomplishment of his life. It was in fact, him. Siegfried.

"**Stop it…."**

He walked over and picked up the head of the fallen knight commander and removed it from his helmet.

"**Damn it and I said stop it!"**

He raised it high and as everyone cheered he grinned. Then he looked over to see the face of his fallen adversary. It was his father, Frederick Schtauffen.

"**It's a lie, god damn it! It's all a lie!"**

He watched as the younger Siegfried's mind snapped in front of him. He dropped the head as well as his sword and started screaming incoherently. Before anyone could make any sense of what was going on with their leader he bolted off into the woods.

Everything went dark. Siegfried clenched his fist as it all came back to him. His quest for the invincible sword, his revenge… it was all his own insanity. He watched everything unfold in mere seconds of his entire life up to that point. His treachery to Stefan where he had murdered him in the treasury in his moment of weakness. The countless victims he tortured for information regarding the ultimate weapon. He watched himself proudly track it down to a Spanish harbor in the name of vengeance, hurting or killing anyone who got in his way. He watched as he battled the corpse of its previous owner, who still refused to let it go even after death. And he watched as he stupidly, and ignorantly, picked up the blade and became possessed. From that day on, he had become known as the Azure Knight, or Nightmare.

Memories flowed into his head of everyone he had killed over the last year of madness. The sword promised him that if he killed enough people, if he fed the blade enough souls, he could resurrect his father. He knew it was a lie, but his mind was so shattered he didn't have the willpower to stop it. He hadn't killed tens, or hundreds, he had killed thousands. He had slaughtered entire villages, entire kingdoms. Acts of mass genocide were carried out in his name.

Siegfried never cried in his life. Not even when he had accidentally murdered his father, he just blamed it on someone else. He never felt bad for anyone, but for the first time in his life he couldn't control himself from breaking down. What had he done? If he was stronger this could have been prevented. He looked up to see everything had returned to blackness. He fell to his knees shaking. Suddenly his father appeared before him, with an eerie red glow surrounding him. This time, he spoke.

"_Why are you so miserable, my son?"_

"**I…. I murdered you father… and I have committed sins I can never be forgiven for."**

"_Redemption is still possible my son. A life of evil is not fit for the proud hero you are to become_."

"**Father…. I…."**

"_Pierce me with your sword, Siegfried_."

"**What?"**

"_Reflect upon your sins and strike me down. Only then can you move onward. Sever the chains of fate that bind you_."

Siegfried looked at his feet to see two swords. One was his father's sword, the Requiem. It had been passed down to Siegfried after his father had left him, but he rarely used it until he left home. From it a red aura now pulsated. The other was the damnable Soul Edge, with which a black murderous aura now lingered. He was beginning to understand what his father meant. If he chose Requiem, his life would be free of evil and he could redeem himself. But then, someone else would be cursed with the Soul Edge. This is something he could never allow… he knew that. If he picked up Soul Edge, he would become the Azure Knight once more and the burden would be his alone…. But so many would die. Then the realization hit him what the other option was.

"**I understand father!"**

Frederick simply smiled. Siegfried picked up both swords and thrust them into his father's chest.

"_You have become a man worthy of respect, my son_…"

With that, he faded away. Suddenly green light flashed around Siegfried, blinding him. He remembered the fight… He felt weak. He opened his eyes again slowly to find himself in the middle of a forest against a tree.

In his hands rested Requiem, only it was different now. The hilt was the same as he remembered, but the weapons blade now had spiky razors pointing out of the sides. In the center of his sword was the symbol of a great eye in the center of a large spiral, along with other runes he could not make out. It was as he believed… the swords had merged. With his father's strength in his weapon, he might be able to resist the evil taint of Soul Edge now, and as long as he lived no man would ever have to be possessed by it again. He looked around for signs of the ninja, but saw nothing. This was no forest he had seen before. He slowly stood up and looked for a trail of some kind but found nothing.

'_Great_' He thought. '_I'm somewhere where I don't know where I am. This is off to a brilliant start_.' He sighed.

"Well," He said out loud "If this is a forest, there has to be game. I guess it's time for a little hunting".


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two: Ghosts and Shadows**_

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A large hunk of deer meat sizzled over the small campfire as he gazed at the night sky. He had been laying back watching the sky for the longest time, thinking over his life, how he got here, why he got here, and why the place felt so… right. Requiem rested across his chest as he took in a deep breath.

"Father…." He said to himself under his breath. '_There is still so much I don't understand…I don't know what you expect me to do.' _He thought to himself. '_What happened to that man, anyway? What did he use on me that could send me here?'_ Siegfried's head suddenly shot full of pain as he grabbed his forehead in agony. This honestly wasn't anything new to him. Ever since he was a teenager his head always throbbed with pain anytime he dwelled on his memories for too long. After a short spike of pain it subsided and he returned his hands to the hilt of his sword.

'_I've been in this damn forest for at least a week and it seems to go on forever with no sign of civilization. I guess I'm just lucky there is plenty to hunt around here.' _He thought to himself. Siegfried couldn't help but smile at his hunting abilities. He had always been a natural sprinter, and with no hunting spear or bow he had to rely on his sword. It had been a long time since he had such a workout, chasing down wild deer through a forest, but he had eventually tricked the dumb thing into cornering itself against the riverbed. This not only found Siegfried a water source, but also a good meal, as he hadn't eaten in days.

Siegfried chuckled to himself proudly. He hadn't had this much fun since he went hunting with Graun. He had always looked out for Siegfried, and he was like a second father to him. Siegfried gazed up at the night sky and closed his eyes as he drifted almost hypnotically to sleep.

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"Why does father have to fight in the stupid war? Doesn't he care about me anymore? Its like he's always off somewhere else solving other peoples problems!" A rather irritated Siegfried shouted at his father's best friend, Graun. He could barely keep himself in his chair. The boy really knew how to scream when he wanted to, but at least his voice had started changing since they first met.

The man was almost a short as the fourteen-year-old Siegfried. He carried a sword at his side as well as a shield strapped to his back. He had short black hair, as well as rather scruffy beard and a large scar going across his left cheek. He was a typical knight of no exceptional skill, but he had a great personality. The man could fix any problem and light up any room. This is probably why he got along with Frederick's family, and Siegfried especially, so well after his father had left them half a year ago. Siegfried looked up to his father more then anyone else in the world, and it left a large void in him now that he was gone.

"Aye, my boy, you an yer mother are important to him more then you realize." Graun sighed as the boy kept rubbing his forehead, pacing back and fourth.

"The memories again, boy?" Graun asked with a concerned look on his face. Siegfried responded with a dirty look.

"They aren't memories, _Graun._ Just bad dreams I can't get out of my head. Nothing more, and you know mother would _kill_ you if she heard you say that. You know how she's been over since I got hurt!" Siegfried snapped back.

Graun sighed. This wasn't going to be easy, even time he brought it up his damn fool of a mother always abruptly stopped him with a murderous look in her eyes. This time he had to spill the beans though, there just wasn't any way he was going to be able to let it slide this time. His conscience wouldn't let him, even if Siegfried's idiot mother could.

'_Clearly the boy has been dwelling on this for a while now… blast, I guess its time to tell him like I promised his dad.' _Graun thought.

"Siegfried my boy, sit down. There are some things I need to clear up with you. Your father wanted this."

Agitated, Siegfried parked down in front of his fireplace and silently stared at him.

"What about my father? He can't tell me something until he's god knows where barely evading death every day?" Graun just sighed.

"My boy, yer mother told you how she and your father met, right? How they had you?"

Siegfried nodded. "Yea, they tell me the dumb story all the time."

"And she told you why they got married ---"

"Yea yea, father found out she was pregnant and married her before anyone else could find out about it. They raised me in secret until I was old enough to fend for myself so father wouldn't have to announce his heir. He was always worried about his enemies trying to take a cheap shot at him by getting to me."

Graun just looked down as if a weight pressed down on him.

"And why you can't remember a damn bloody thing past a couple of years ago?"

"I was fighting in that tournament a couple years back… they told me I got hit really hard in the face with a flail and fell off the platform. I was in bed for weeks and it hurt trying to remember anything. I do remember mother cried a lot back then, though."

"Aye… that's the story…. But the small problem is, my boy… it isn't true." Siegfried looked shocked. Not true? What was Graun babbling about?

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Truth is, your father is an unlucky bastard and couldn't get a kid no matter how hard he tried. He thought god had forsaken him and your mother. He was right about his enemies wanting to get to you though, that much was never an exaggeration." Siegfried looked angry. This was some sort of stupid joke, none of it made sense.

"T….That's impossible! Graun…… how would I even be alive if that were the case?"

"I was getting to that, boy…" said in a rather depressed tone.

"This is important Siegfried, so listen carefully before your mother comes home and kills me for telling you this." The boy nodded silently as if he was petrified by what he was hearing.

"Two years ago, your father was on his way home with me…. We had been out sparring with each other you see. Then as we are comin 'round the bend, we see this little bastard kid on the side of the road covered in little more then rags bleeding with a hole in his chest the size of my arm!" Graun promptly flexed his right arm out to try to get some kind of laugh out of Siegfried, but to no avail. He simply stared back with his mouth open giving a "What the hell is wrong with you?" kind of look. Graun coughed to try to regain composure. He had a habit of doing stupid things at the wrong time; this was one of those times.

"To top things off, his eyes looked like they had been burned terribly by something and he was most definitely blind."

"What are you saying?" Siegfried asked with a serious tone.

"We'll I thought the kid was a goner, honestly. His face was nearly seared off, his eyes looked like they had been glazed with hells fire itself, and I've never seen someone lose so much blood before and still live. I've seen plenty of men die on the battlefield from wounds far less serious then that, and while I know not what caused it the fact that he lived amazes me to this day. He had to have been blinded as well from what I saw, but somehow he regained his sight." Siegfried just stared in disbelief.

"He lived?" Siegfried didn't like where this was going, but things were starting to align in this brain slowly and it seemed pretty obvious what was going on here.

"Not only did he live, he recovered faster then anyone I've ever seen recover in my life! It was like he had a guardian angel there that simply wouldn't let him die. And yet for how lucky he was, we still couldn't figure out what had happened to him. The boy must have taken a large blow to the head as well cause he couldn't remember a damned thing about himself, and half the time he was simply comatose."

"That's… that's not…!" Siegfried stuttered trying to find the right words.

"My boy, that bastard bleeding on the side of the road was you. I certainly felt pity on you alright, but your father absolutely fell in love with you that day although he hardly admits it. Honestly he and your mother believed you were gods gift to them. They quickly decided to adopt you as their own…. but fed you that damned story for the last couple years of your life because they were scared you would try to run off and find your real parents."

Siegfried looked down at the ground as if he had just had the cruelest joke ever pulled on him. He felt like the last two years of his life were all a big joke that the fates had played on him. Never before had he questioned the story his 'parents' gave him, and now Graun was telling him it was all a lie?

"I can't believe this… father isn't my real father?" Siegfried said in a rather sad tone.

"Aye… that's right. I don't know what happened to you boy, but your memory would lapse in and out for the first two months so it was pretty easy to get you to believe what they told you. The reason I tell you this is because your parents truly do love you and would do anything for you. Your mother thought you were a gift from god, and your father felt an instant connection with you. You were meant to come here, my boy. Please don't hate them, Siegfried." Graun finished with a depressed sigh. He had finally gotten that off of his shoulders, but he didn't know how Siegfried would take it.

Siegfried stood up and grinned doing a complete 180' turn in his attitude, surprising the bearded warrior.

"No way! Father and mother are the only people who ever cared about me, I would never need anyone else." Graun just laughed, having seen the kid obviously accept it better then he could've ever hoped.

"But Graun, why are you telling me this now? Why not before? I don't care if I'm adopted… I don't even care if you all lied to me…" Graun sighed and looked over to the boy with a sad tone in his voice.

"Siegfried, I really do hope your father comes home from this damn slaughter… but even if he does, it could take years with how things are going. Frederick asked me to tell you when I thought you could handle it, and you're growing into a damn fine man." Siegfried gave a sort of goofy smile at that comment. "Your poor mother wouldn't have the heart to tell you anyway… she really thinks of you as her own boy and was truly scared you would run away." Siegfried looked up for a moment then turned his eyes to the fireplace.

"I am my father's son… there really couldn't be anyone else, anyway. My family is my family. At the end of the day, I am still Siegfried Schtauffen!" Siegfried said with a big grin.

"You're a good kid, Siegfried. And your going to make one hell of a knight with the way you fight someday."

"Ahem!" Siegfried smirked. "But… you said I went… blind?"

"Aye, Siegfried. I've seen men go blind from burns before and the kind of effect it has on the color of their eyes. When we found you babbling incoherently you couldn't tell left from right and they had gone bright teal. Even now they look far different… you were most definitely blind." Siegfried tapped his foot impatiently, not satisfied with the answer.

"Have you even seen someone recover from blindness before? I mean, like that? That doesn't sound right" – Before Siegfried could finish, Graun cut him off. "And it ISNT right. It isn't right that you recovered from your wounds in less then a week, it isn't right that you can see, and it isn't right that a hundred pound kid like you can wield your fathers sword like its weightless. Even I have trouble holding that damn thing!"

Siegfried forced out a chuckle, but Graun could see that he was really worried about it.

Graun lost himself in his thoughts. '_Well truly, the boy fights more like a demon then anyone I've seen at his age… it's almost unnatural. Then again, that isn't the only thing unnatural about the boy…'_ Graun looked up to meet Siegfried's green eyes.

"Well my boy, lets get some chow shall we? We didn't spend the greater half of yesterday hunting for nothing!"

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Siegfried suddenly snapped his eyes open and stared up at the night sky, wondering what he was going to do from there. _'Chow…'_ he thought. Suddenly his senses were overcome with a thick and powerful smell.

"Crap!" He quickly bolted off the ground and pulled the deer meat off of the fire. Half of it was clearly burnt and probably not too edible. "Damnit, why'd this have to happen? Shit shit shit!" He was disappointed to have ruined the meat, but he had eaten worse things in his life then burnt deer. He sat down and promptly took a giant bite out of the burnt half of the deer meat.

"Well, life could be worse…." He gave a depressed sigh as he looked down at his sword. At night it was brilliantly reflective, he could see his own unnatural green eyes staring back at him. For nearly a moment he could've sworn that he could see the azure knight staring back at him too, making him flinch.

"… but not by much…."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three: Civilization**_

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Siegfried had decided that the best course of action was to follow the stream as far as he could in hopes it would lead him to some sign of civilization. Water was a necessity he didn't feel like giving up at the moment. Even though he was alone he hated his own odor and was glad the water was deep enough to bathe in. He walked for two days finding nothing but trees, trees, and more trees. Several times he felt like he was being watched, but could never find anyone when he turned around. '_The other half of the damn sword is just making me paranoid… just keep moving Siegfried!' _He thought.

On the third day while he was washing his face in the river, he couldn't help but feel small scars along the side of his face he hadn't noticed before. He spent nearly half the morning trying to figure out when he had acquired these marks, but he had eventually come to the conclusion someone must have gotten in a close hit to his face when he had spent some time as the azure knight. He also now had a small black scar moving down vertically over his right eye that he couldn't remember receiving. He could barely remember anything about that terrible year. Heck, he could barely remember anything anyway. His entire life felt like it was full of holes. It wasn't anything too visible in the reflection anyway, so at least he wouldn't have to worry about scaring off any ladies with his horrible scars.

"Man, this just goes on forever… how big is this forest?" He said to himself. Squinting ahead he thought he could make out a wooden bridge, so he suddenly broke into a sprint. Coming to a screeching halt he found himself in front of a small wooden bridge that crossed over the river and a dirt path. "Lucky! About damn time I got a break!" He shouted out loud.

"Whew, now I can finally rest…." He said to himself. '_Well, this road looks pretty clear so it must be traveled on a lot. I'll just wait here for someone to pass by and figure out where the hell I am!'_ He thought to himself.

And so he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited for what seemed like hours.

"Why… isn't… anyone… COMING…?" He grumbled to himself. The sun would be setting soon, and he hadn't seen a soul. "Hmmm… should I just start walking again? No, no… someone is bound to come by. I'll just stay here." Siegfried kicked back against the ledge of the bridge and let out a yawn. He turned his head down the opposite end of the road and saw dark clouds coming.

"Oh… great. That'll be fun. Just what I needed, too."Siegfried grumbled as he kicked a small stone off the bridge into the water. He turned his head again to face the clouds. '_That's odd… they sure are moving fast… and upwards… the hell?'_ His brain, starting to align things, suddenly prompted him to break off into a sprint in that direction.

"Damn it!" He said to himself. "Please be a natural fire, don't let it be what I think it is."

---------------

They suddenly came from out of nowhere in great numbers. An explosive kunai had landed in front of the horse sending the entire carriage up in the air, prompting Rikuto to fly out the back of his wagon. He rolled gracefully as he had the ground, promptly pulling himself to his feet with his sword drawn. The horse quickly broke free of the wagon and took off into the forest before he could get to it.

'_This is going to complicate things.'_

He was a samurai of small stature, clad in blue and green armor and merely fifteen years of age. He wore no helmet or mask, revealing his rather plain boyish face with long black hair that easily fell past his shoulders. His brown eyes scanned the trees around him quickly as three other samurai formed a defensive position around him.

"Protect Rikuto-sama at all costs!" One cried out. Ignoring the overzealous cries of his "protection" he continued to assess the situation.

'_Two of the three horses are dead, one has run off, all three wagons are going up in flames pretty quickly, and there are at least thirty sound surrounding us. Doubt any of the civilians on this convoy will survive if we just hold our ground. Heh...well played, Kabuto.'_ Rikuto grinned.

"Well, looks like we're surrounded." He frowned as one of his comrades was impaled in the forehead with a kunai in front of him.

"Don't worry about me, get therest of the civilians out of here!" He snapped.

"But… Rikuto-sama!"

"Just do it, that's an order! They can't touch me anyways and you know it!" Reluctantly the three ran over to help up a young girl and an old man who had been injured and took flight down the path.

"Alright, monster… you want to kill innocents to get to me? Lets play." A dim smile could be seen as he raised his katana. His eyes met a pair of glasses reflecting back at him in the woods.

------------------------

Siegfried ran as fast as he could towards the burning wreckage, bodies were strewn everywhere around him. '_Damn it, am I too late? Was this a bandit raid?'_ Before he could finish his thought a kunai flew past his face that he instinctively dodged. Without even needing to look he quickly pulled his sword back into his foe's stomach that was no more then a couple feet behind him. He turned around to meet his bloodshot eyes. Besides his eyes, the man was totally covered in a light gray suit with some sort of metal plate on his forehead.

'_That outfit…I know I've seen it before somewhere…that's right, they called themselves ninja. Just like that girl and the masked freak…'_

Hanging off the end of Siegfried's blade the man weakly reached for his kunai pouch. Before he could react, Siegfried launched him into the air off the end of his swordand cleanly decapitated him before hitting the ground. As his blood trickled down the end of his blade a familiar voice echoed inside of him.

'_**That's the feeling**…_' He felt a weak voice say. Was he losing it again? No, this was karma. The man had attacked him and killed innocents, he had no choice but to finish him off. He shrugged it off quickly.

Three more ninja launched themselves at him from behind one of the burning wagons. He quickly swung his sword horizontally cutting the first one's skull clean in half as his body flew past him like a rag doll.

'_**That's it kid…'**_

The second and third landed at his sides and spun around coordinated to hit his stomach with their kunai. He quickly pulled back barely dodging them in time only to receive a kick to the face from the ninja to his right. Staggering with his vision partially blurred temporarily he brought his sword up to guard the thrown knife heading straight towards him. As the kunai bounced off of his sword into the air he grabbed it with his right hand and stuck it in a pouch he kept under his chest plate.

"Two on one… that's a little unfair, don't you think?" He said with an annoyed tone.

"Life's unfair." One of them retorted. "Now die."

One of the ninjas kneeled down as the other jumped onto his back for leverage boosting him into the air towards Siegfried. As he spun down towards Siegfried he was quickly stopped by the flat center of his sword meeting his face. Flying back and stunned he watched his partner dive in under the blade to take the opening he had given him. His partner quickly thrust his kunai towards Siegfried's chest only to receive the spiked end of his boot through his chin before it could reach him. Kicking the body off of his boot to the side with minimal effort, he was again disturbed by that voice.

'**_So cruel… so very cruel…'_**

Shaking the voice from his head he turned to see his last opponent who was already charging him head on with one of his kunai. Siegfried brought his sword to his side quickly and spun his body around cutting him in half before he could get close enough to do any damage.

"Heh." He said to himself. Then suddenly in a burst of smoke the body turned into two halves of a log.

"Wood? The hell?" He was stopped suddenly by a jab to his back. Siegfried coughed up blood as he turned his head to face his opponent.

"I don't know what you did… but that's a…. good trick." He said with a weak laugh. The ninja had somehow managed to get behind him and pierce the only part of him that wasn't covered besides his face.

"Hmph." his opponent snorted as he pulled that kunai out and jumped back "Must have missed the nerve by an inch or two… you shouldn't be standing."

"Eh… its going to take a little more then your butter knife to kill me, don't worry." He said with a grin.

"Tch!" The ninja was irritated by that remark and it gave Siegfried just the opening he needed. As he spun around to give another roundhouse kick to Siegfried's head he quickly pulled the kunai he had been hiding under his armor and sliced his heel. The man immediately fell back crying out in pain but brought himself up on one leg hobbling. Before he could regain his composure Siegfried sliced the front of his body upward sending him up into the air. As time seemed to stop for him, he spun around as his momentum gathered and threw the kunai out of his right hand straight into his opponent's throat. The force sent him flying straight into the back of the burning wagon, which then immediately collapsed in on him.

'_**Death is great… but you are an artist…'**_

'_Who are you?_' He thought to see if it would get a reply.

No response.

"Oy, good job!" A voice from behind him said abruptly. He quickly spun around to lock eyes with the samurai. He was stand there, holding a freshly decapitated head in one hand that belonged to one of the ninjas. And… was he… smiling?

"You were with this convoy, I take it?" The samurai looked down shamefully at that remark.

"Yes, I'm afraid I could do little to stop the onslaught, but rest assured the survivors are on their way to safety." Siegfried sighed. Could he trust this guy? Well, he WAS holding one of the enemy's heads, so…

"Well, shouldn't you be getting back to the remnants of your convoy then?" Siegfried really didn't want to trust this guy. Something about him felt off.

"I wouldn't worry about them, they'll just be heading home now anyway. I've got business in Konoha, so I'll just have to keep going on my own anyway." He responded as he began stuffing the head into a brown bag.

"I see… well, uh, perhaps you could… well…" Siegfried hated this. It was a pain in the ass to ask this sort of thing, and he simply hated doing it.

"Mmmm?" He mumbled as he tied the bag around his waist and turned to face Siegfried.

"Yea… You see… the deal is…"

"…You're lost aren't you." Siegfried grinned while scratching the back of his head.

"Hahaaaaaa… yea, something like that."

"Destination?"

"Don't really have one." The samurai paused briefly as if he was in deep thought.

"Ah. Ok then! Well, I suppose you could come along. You did prove you could handle yourself, anyway." Siegfried nodded, embaressed at the situation.

"So… you got a name?" Siegfried asked. He hated traveling with people, but if formalities were going to be needed…

"Rikuto. Nice to meet you."

"Siegfried Schtauffen. So… which direction are we going in?"

"This way." He pointed down the road in the direction Siegfried had come from. He silently moaned to himself.

"Oh, Siegfried?"

"Yea?"

"I never did get a chance to thank you. You really saved the day back there."

"Oh… don't mention it." He smiled.

As they started down the path, Siegfried obviously missed the clearing no more then fifty meters away with over two dozen bodies torn apart in every direction.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter Four: Voices in My Head_**

-----------------

"So, who were those guys anyway?" Siegfried asked as they walked across the bridge.

"Hmm? Sound Nin. Didn't you see the forehead protectors?" Rikuto asked a bit puzzled. Everyone knew who the Sound were and what trouble they caused. EVERYONE…

"Forehead protectors?" Siegfried asked with a dumbfounded look on his face. Rikuto just stopped. "Err… did I say something?" Siegfried started to feel embarrassed again.

"You are not from around here, are you?" No way he could be. He didn't even know something that basic. And to top it off, that armor he wore…

"Ahh… yea, as I was saying, I'm kind of a bit lost at the moment." That was the under statement of a lifetime. People who could turn into logs weren't something he had seen recently, in any case.

"So, where do you come from then?" Siegfried thought for a moment. Well, might as well give it a shot…

"I guess you could call it the Holy Roman Empire." He hated calling it that after all his father had done, but this was just to be on the safe side.

"Never heard of it." His heart fell like a brick. '_Just how far away am I?'_ He thought.

"Right now you are in the Country of Fire, on the road with me to the hidden village of Konoha." Rikuto smiled. He had picked up someone who was genuinely clueless, but maybe this could work to his advantage anyway. Traveling alone sucked, but he was usually a target so having someone skilled with him wouldn't make him feel too guilty about it.

"How did you get here, anyway?" Siegfried bit his lip as they continued walking.

"That's… a tough one. I don't really know myself, nor do I really think I could explain it if I tried." Siegfried sighed as kicked a rock.

'_Blonde hair, teal eyes, slim build, incredibly heavy armor, a gigantic sword, no clue where he is or how he got here. Completely clueless, and pretty skilled as well. Probably only a couple years older then me.'_ Rikuto coughed. "Well, Very well, I won't push the issue then."

"Appreciate it." Siegfried said firmly as he looked straight ahead.

They continued walking in silence for a while, both trying to sort out the mess they were in. Rikuto had been trying to figure out the motive behind Siegfried for a while and still couldn't get a grasp on him.

'_He feels weird though…he shows emotion, but… his words just feel hollow. It's like I'm walking with a corpse. Still, I shouldn't make a judgment so easily… he seems like a decent sort of guy. He did TRY to help, after all. I'll just have to ask her what she thinks when we get there…'_ Rikuto thought silently to himself.

'_Damn, who is this Rikuto guy anyway? Kid looks younger then me, didn't even have a scratch on him from the assault by those… Sound whatever. Didn't some of his friends die? He seems a bit too upbeat… doesn't sit well with me at all.'_

"Oi, Siegfried?" He snapped out of his trance suddenly.

"Yes, what?"

"You're not… doing anything specific, right?" That question sort of stung him. Well, what was he supposed to do, exactly?

"I guess not. It'd be nice to get home, but I really don't know where the hell I'd go from here anyway." It hurt saying those words, but he knew it was true.

"Well… uh… if you're not doing anything specific… well, maybe you'd consider being my bodyguard?" This was it. Problem solved, he wouldn't have to worry about Siegfried getting left behind, he knew he could handle himself in a fight, and he wouldn't have to be alone any more. Perfect.

"No."

"Exactly, no, that's what I thou… wait, WHAT?" Siegfried tried to contain himself from laughing at his response.

"Sorry, but I… really hate fighting." Rikuto couldn't believe he was hearing this.

'_The guy just cut down a handful of Sound against the odds with ease. No, that was probably the first time he had even fought a ninja by the look of it. He carries a weapon larger then most men. His armor looks like it had seen countless battles. He even has a really cool scar over his eye! I always wanted a cool scar like that! His entire look screamed "I'm going to kill you." and yet, the man hates fighting!_'

"Don't get me wrong though." Siegfried interrupted his thoughts. "I've seen my share of bloodshed… I just want to be done with it. Settle down somewhere." The thought made sense to him. Well, maybe he could make the best of the situation anyway.

"I guess I understand. Well, maybe we can help each other out in any case." Siegfried raised his eyebrow.

"How so?"

"Well, Konoha is another ninja village, like Sound. They are very different though, Konoha is very peaceful compared to Sound."

"And…"

"Well, My understanding is they have been without a extraordinary weapon master in quite some time. I could probably use a little of my influence to get you a job there to train some of the academy students and genins." Siegfried chuckled at the thought.

"So, you think because you saw me fight once, I'm some great weapon master? You saw me kill a few men with my sword and one with one of those throwing knifes. That's a pretty big assumption to make." Siegfried was bluffing. He knew he was bluffing. In truth, he was downright scary with any weapon he got his hands on, but he was curious as to just how much insight this kid had.

"Yes, perhaps it is. However, those moves you used… I do not think a normal person could do it so easily without a lot of training and natural talent." Siegfried sighed.

"Alright, you called me out. Anyway, what's the catch?"

"You guard me until Konoha and help me do anything I need to do before then. It won't be too long, I promise." Rikuto sounded a little sad when he said the last part.

Siegfried weighed out his options evenly, but he knew this was probably the only thing he could do right now anyway.

"Very well, I'll do it. What's Konoha like, anyway?" Siegfried was curious about that. What kind of place did these ninjas live in, anyway?

"Oh, it's a very beautiful place." Rikuto said. Quickly looking up and down at Siegfried's armor, he added "Probably a bit more advanced to where ever you're from, too. I think you will like it a lot. It's seen better days, but it is still a great place to visit."

"Advanced? Better days?"

"Erm… well, you know, this and that…" Rikuto silently trailed off. Rumors were that lots of western nations were still very backwater and didn't even use electricity. If Siegfried really were from one of those nations as he suspected, it would be a bit annoying to keep him from freaking out when he first turned on a light switch, or popped on a stove.

"This and that what?" Siegfried said with a curiously dumb look on his face. "Was their some kind of disaster?"

"Sigh… Look, stuff happens, all right? I'll just say a lot of stuff has happened to Konoha during the last few years." Siegfried still wasn't satisfied.

"Hey, if it's going to be my new home for a while I need to know everything, right? Spill it."

'_Damn he is stubborn.'_ Rikuto thought. _'Fine then, it's not like it's going to kill him, but later.'_

"Look, I'll tell you when we get to an inn, alright? I'm supposed to meet up with someone there later tonight but we will have plenty of time before then." Siegfried not entirely satisfied nodded his head.

"Alright, as soon as we stop."

-----------------------------

Several hours later as it was getting dark they wandered into their room tired and beaten. Siegfried immediately un-strapped his white armor threw it to the base of a wooden table, revealing his orange vest with a black cross going through the center of it and light gray pants. This whole building was pretty run down, but he honestly didn't care. The only major thing that caught him off guard was when Rikuto hit a light switch and the room flickered to life. Electricity was a new concept to Siegfried that he hadn't seen before, and Rikuto was having a hard time trying to explain it to him. In the end he had just stated "It works that way because it does! No more questions!" Siegfried had given up and just accepted it for what it was, although it still felt weird to him.

The room consisted of two beds, a bathroom (which much to Rikuto's distress he ALSO had to explain.), a large wooden table with four chairs and a balcony. The entire building was made out of solid wood and had no carpeting. It was still pretty crappy looking in Siegfried's opinion, but at least it was interesting. This was, after all, a pretty interesting country.

Siegfried promptly sprawled out on his bed and yawned.

"All right, you said you'd tell me about Konoha, so spill it kid."

"Hmm…" Rikuto mumbled as he set his sword against the wall sitting down on the edge of his own.

"Where to start… Alright. Around seventeen years ago, a nine-tailed demon fox attacked Konoha and very nearly wiped it out completely. They called it Kyuubi. The villager's leader at the time, the Fourth Hokage used an ancient technique to defeat the demon and seal it into a newborn child. The Hokage died in the process, but the technique was successful."

"A newborn kid? Why would he do something that selfish?" Siegfried blurted out. Rikuto gave him a very cold stare in response.

"It's complicated, but an adult wouldn't be able to withstand the energy of the demon. Only a newborn child could grow up to adapt to it." Siegfried snorted.

"Sucks to be him." He said, staring up at the ceiling. Rikuto just rolled his eyes with an annoyed look.

"Anyway, the villagers kept it a secret from him and all the other children of his age as a matter of law. He became a ninja out of that village as well. I'm not sure how, eventually he figured out his own secret when he was twelve. I even heard he began to learn how to harness that demons power for himself. The possibilities could've been endless…" he trailed off again.

"And?" Siegfried cut in, getting impatient. Rikuto coughed and started up again.

"A little while before the end of that year, he was abducted and never seen from again. It is believed an organization called "Akatsuki" was involved in his kidnapping. Personally, I've never come across them, but I've heard bad things about those that do."

"So they wanted the demon, then?"

"No, I doubt they wanted the demon itself. Demons are too hard to control. I think they just wanted to steal as much of his power as they could. They are not the kind of organization that keeps prisoners for very long, so they probably killed him after they were done doing whatever it was they wanted with him. Technically, he is still considered MIA, but even the Fifth Hokage built a memorial in his honor after exposing his secret to the rest of the village. She felt it was the right thing to do, I guess."

"So, this leaves Konoha in a bad situation? That was years ago, right?"

"Let me finish…" he added abruptly "Konoha, or the Leaf, has been at war with the Sound for at least five years now when they tried to invade Konoha. They failed, but they did a lot of damage. Two years ago, they tried again. They failed again, but they caused several times more damage and nearly wiped them out." Rikuto had a sad tone in his voice.

"The only thing that saved them was their ally, the Sand. If they had not come in time, Konoha would have been utterly destroyed. The last two years have been spent rebuilding, for the most part. That is why I think you would fit in there."

"Why I would fit in there?" Siegfried wasn't sure what he was getting at.

"You said you had seen your share of blood shed and wanted to stop. You want a new start then, right? They are trying to make a new start too. I think it would be perfect for you." Rikuto's words stuck like glue. It made sense, though. It made a lot of sense. Siegfried grinned.

"Yea, well, maybe I'll consider it some more." In reality, Siegfried had already made up his mind though.

"So whatever happened to that Akatsuki thing, anyway?"

Biting his lip, Rikuto paused before answering.

"Officially, they are a threat and are still at large… but…"

"…but…?"

"Unofficially, I've heard a lot from my sources saying they all tried to kill each other off in a grab for power. I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later." Rikuto shrugged.

"Hey, Siegfried-san… Didn't you get stabbed back there?" Suddenly it came back to them both.

"Yea, but its nothing." Siegfried said carelessly.

"What do you mean? I'm pretty sure that was a clean hit, you should really let me look at that – " "Its fine now." He simply cut him off.

Turning around to raise up his shirt, he showed him the spot where it had hit, and sure enough there was but a scab left, before turning away and lying back on his bed.

"Oh." Rikuto felt there was something off about him again.

'_That kind of recovery shouldn't be possible… is this some kind of bloodline?' _

-------------------------------

A hard knock came to the door suddenly, prompting Rikuto to roll off of his bed landing on his feet sluggishly.

"Expecting company here?" Siegfried stood up immediately with a serious look on his face.

"Well, yes and no…" Rikuto replied.

"**Open the hell up, Seiryuu!"** A brisk voice yelled from outside.

"Yea Yea, I'm coming…" he groaned lazily. Siegfried was already up leaning against a wall, his eyes fixed on the door. By instinct he had his sword hidden behind his back ready to strike any threat.

As Rikuto pulled the door open slowly, a small smile lit up his face.

Outside stood a man around Siegfried's height wearing a large gray jacket with a furry white hood and gray pants. By his side stood a rather ugly white dog of medium size, and pale looking girl with black hair that had a tint of blue in the light, and the strangest lavender eyes. They didn't even look like they had pupils, it was kind of freaky. Beyond that she wore a rather heavy looking white jacket with blue pants.

"Kiba! Hinata! Been a while!" Rikuto said with a big grin on his face, quickly moving to let them in.

"Rikuto, you bastard! What's up?" Kiba said as his dog trailed him, followed the girl who Siegfried assumed was Hinata.

"Well, a little this, a little of that." He said lightly with a smile, offering chairs around the table." As the three of them sat down, Siegfried kept his stance against the wall staring them down.

"Oi, who's the blond over there? More of your old man's useless muscle?" Kiba let out with a chuckle. That comment irritated Siegfried on a much higher level then it had been intended but he remained silent.

"That is Siegfried-san, a friend of mine who is traveling with me. I met him earlier today during a… small scuffle." '_That was an under statement, alright.'_

"Are you sure you don't mean, he got his ass kicked and you took pity on him?" Kiba continued to laugh.

"You don't need trash like that, Rikuto. We both know you can take care of yourself better without any escort." Siegfried's level of annoyance continued to rise. The short girl looked over at Siegfried rather embarrassed about the situation, as her comrade was obviously making her uncomfortable.

"Heh." Siegfried simply muttered with a sharp look that could kill in his eyes. He bounced off the wall casually revealing Requiem and swung it over his shoulders, immediately sending a threatening vibe to his guests.

As if on instinct, Hinata quickly activated her Byakugan to access any threat he was trying to bring to them. Giving the girl a rather odd look, Siegfried grinned and walked past them to the door.

"Oi Rikuto… your friends suck. I'll be back later, if that's alright." Not waiting for confirmation, Siegfried slammed the door shut behind him.

"Sigh… Kiba, that was unnecessary…" mumbled Rikuto.

Hinata's eyes slowly returned to normal, with a troubled look on her face.

"Anyway, we have a lot to discuss."

------------------------------------

Siegfried had walked maybe a quarter of a mile from the inn into a small forest. A couple of stupid kids were getting drunk behind the inn and had said some sort of sluggish insult he couldn't make when he past by, but he just ignored them and kept walking.

Siegfried had spent the last ten minutes making practice swings against trees, but was only able to cut about a fourth of the way in with his entire force. Then a fifth, then an eighth.

"Man, I'm slipping…" He groaned. "Fighting was much easier before, the sword feels so heavy now… what gives?" he mumbled as he looked up at the full moon beaming down on him.

'It is because you lack the true strength to wield it, Boy.' A maniacal laughing soon followed. 

Siegfried's eyes shot around looking for the source of the voice but found no one.

"Who is there!" he yelled.

'Someone who knows you better then you know yourself, Weakling.**_'_**

Siegfried started to sweat. This voice felt familiar. '_Oh god no… Am I hearing the sword already?_' he thought.

"A…A-And that would be?"

'**_Hmph'_** Was the only reply he heard.

Everything around him turned pitch black suddenly, as he felt himself being pulled inside that dark void again. A bright red light flashed before him and his father appeared.

Walking over towards him, his father's gentle eyes soon turned to a blood red cat-like feral state. Siegfried took a step back at this action and turned his head to see a bright flame in the distance behind him getting closer. He knew this dark flame to be Soul Edge.

'**_Do you wish to save yourself from the flame, Siegfried_**?' 

Siegfried shot his head back towards his 'father'.

"Yes Father!"

'**_Do you wish to steal its power and use it for your own_**?'

"Yes Father!"

'**_Then break the illusion and stop calling me father, BRAT!_**'

Suddenly his 'father' punched Siegfried across the face, sending him to the ground. Shocked and confused, Siegfried pulled himself to his feet and looked up.

Two huge red cat-like eyes stared down at him from the darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter Five: Where it ends, it shall begin_**

---------------------------

Rikuto tossed a bag over to Kiba rather suddenly with a half wicked grin on his face.

"Go ahead, see for yourself." He said with a smirk. Kiba, rather puzzled, opened the top of the bag slowly only to close it as fast as he realized what it was.

"Awwww, man, that's a head! I don't care if its Sound, what are you doing giving me stuff like this?" Kiba put it back on the table and held his nose up defiantly. Hinata flinched backwards a bit. She hated looking at stuff like that.

"Ah." Rikuto suddenly added "But do you think I would simply toss you a head for no reason, Kiba-san?" Kiba simply looked down at the bag again. Forcing himself to do another inspection on the head, he opened it up a bit further to reveal a cracked pair of glasses looking up at him. Suddenly, the look of disgust left his face and was replaced with a wide grin.

"This is…!" – "Yes." Rikuto cut him off. "Kabuto and his men ambushed my caravan and killed a few of my personal guards as well as some of the civilians. So, you know…" While the two traded grins with each other, Hinata simply gave a sigh of relief.

"Yahoo! That bastard can finally rot in hell for what he did to Shino, Naruto and the village, right Hinata?" Hinata shyly nodded her head before getting up to open the window.

"Naruto… that's right, Kabuto was the one who sold him out also, wasn't he? I had forgotten." Rikuto felt a little embarrassed he had forgotten that part. Still, the Leaf's Hokage had put out an official open bounty on that ninja for various crimes. Normally, the Hokage was not one to do such a thing as put up an open bounty on someone, but this is someone who had sentenced Naruto, who she considered her little brother, to death by the hands of Akatsuki. The sound had agreed to hand him over to Akatsuki in exchange for an 'alliance', and Kabuto had taken part in the kidnapping of him, and Kiba's former team mate had gotten himself killed in the process. The Fifth considered this act unforgivable.

"This is great… I've been waiting five years to spit on this bastards face!" It was no joke either. Before Rikuto could open his mouth, Kiba spit directly into the bag before tying it closed and setting it down next to his dog.

"I am so glad this has made your day good, Kiba-san." Rikuto said politely. "However, you know I really have no need for money on this bounty. Actually, I have a request."

"Huh?" Kiba looked puzzled. "Oi, Seiryuu? You never have requests. What could be so important?" Rikuto bit his lip and swallowed.

"Siegfried-san is" – Rikuto was suddenly cut off by Hinata "Not human, is he?" Rikuto nodded his head slowly.

"I'm not sure exactly. You of all people would have noticed fast, Hinata." Kiba's eyes darted between the two of them with an utterly clueless look on his face.

"Um… what are you two talking about? He looked pretty normal to me. Well, minus that sword… that thing has got to be a pain to carry…" he trailed off.

"No, that's not it." Hinata said firmly. "Siegfried-san felt… to put it into words, hollow." Hinata leaned against the wall Siegfried had been standing against prior to his leaving with a worried look on her face.

"Eeeeeeh? Felt hollow? I don't mean to doubt you Hinata, but that sort of sounds a little… well, offensive. How does someone feel hollow anyway?"

"You are not one to talk about being offensive, Kiba-san." He turned to meet Rikuto's now cold eyes. Kiba reached down to pet Akamaru's head, feeling a bit guilty about pissing Siegfried off.

"Yea, I suppose you're right about that… but I still don't know what you two are talking about. He smells normal…" Just then Hinata mumbled something under her breath neither of them could understand.

Rikuto shot his eyes behind him to meet Hinata's, which were staring at the ground.

"Hmm? Does Hinata-sama have something to say?" Rikuto blurted out. Hinata raised her head slightly. He always did this to annoy Hinata. At first he thought it would help her over her confidence issues if she was called sama, but later on he simply grew tired of trying and did it now more in an annoying manner then anything else.

"Siegfried-san has… I mean, I couldn't see any charka in him when he came towards the door like that… I should have seen something, but nothing…" her voice had faded into a squeak. Rikuto quickly drew attention away from her.

"Not only that, but that sword he carries… There may be something to it. The first time I watched him fight he was only dealing with a few Sound, but every time he swung that blade of his and it hit flesh… the razors on the side of it would grow out, and he kept getting faster with every swing. That's why… I want the Hokage to take a look at him and see if she can put him somewhere he wont have to do those kinds of things anymore." Kiba looked a little nervous suddenly.

"He was that sort of guy? Tch… maybe I shouldn't have pissed him off. Oi, he doesn't have a bad attitude or anything does he? He wouldn't go out and cause trouble right?" Rikuto shook his head.

"I don't think so. He seems to regret violence in general, I think he will be fine."

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"**MERCY!"**

That was the last word that escaped drunken teenager's mouth as Requiem flew through the air like a bullet impaling him into the side of a tree nearly instantly. They had wandered over in their drunken stupidity after they heard a voice cry out, and one of them had been dumb enough to insult the swordsman who was grabbing his head in pain when they got there. A pair of blood red eyes scanned the corpses and began to walk over to Requiem. As he grabbed the hilt of the blade, the symbol of the eye in the center of the sword flashed purple and suddenly transformed into a pair of living organic eyes looking out both sides of the sword. His blond hair suddenly dropped and turned crimson instantly as a wicked smile came naturally.

"**_WRETCHED HUMANS. YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY I SHARE MY DARKNESS WITH YOU."_**

Deep in the recesses of Siegfried's mind, he stood alone in front of a giant ruined gate flooded by water. A piece of paper with the word "seal" covered half of the door, but it had been mostly burned off and the bars that held the gate intact were bent and twisted. Two huge red feral eyes stared down at him from the darkness within. As Siegfried gathered his courage, he took a step forward.

"You… You were pretending to be my father, weren't you! Who are you! What do you want?"

"**Silence, brat. You see what you want to see."** A cold voice came from beyond.

"**I am the shade of a demon that was sealed into you when you were a child. We are separated now, much as you are with yourself."** Siegfried suddenly realized that this thing had to know who he really was then.

"If that is true, then who am I? Answer that, demon!" The demon shade let out an amusing chuckle at the thought of this.

"**You are your own person. Who you were, is no more. He has been killed, as has my former self."** Siegfried took a step forward in anger.

"And how the hell is that possible? If you're dead, you're dead, right! I was found almost dead!"

"**Nothing I say will make your human mind understand fast enough. Watch, fool."**

Suddenly a bright red light shot out from the shades eyes and the scenery started to melt around him and visions began to form before him. '_So, he is the one who has been doing this to me…'_

Memories of an Uzumaki Naruto started pouring into Siegfried's head all at once. Every detail of this past life flowed into his mind in mere seconds. Suddenly, around age 12, everything stopped. As everything started slowing down, his head started aching.

"**This, Brat, is why you are no longer him."**

A man with dark shades lay across the green grass bleeding in the middle of a torn up battlefield. Not more then twenty feet away a blond kid in an orange jacket known as Uzumaki Naruto was fighting toe-to-toe in a fight with some older looking kid with white hair and glasses, but was noticeably losing ground fast. The white haired kid's right fist suddenly started glowing bright blue and he quickly brought down his opponent with a lightning fast punch to the stomach. 

"Wasted effort, Naruto-kun…" was all that was said before the ninja was carried off over the shoulder of his enemy.

A flash of light suddenly changed the scenery to a dark cavern. Siegfried looked around and saw nine cloaked figures huddled around each other talking silently.

"Itachi-san, are you telling us there is no way we can extract?" One of the figures nodded his head and replied sharply.

"There are certain circumstances with this one, Kyuubi refuses to depart from his host. The original plan involved all nine of them, and all nine of us… but we will have to settle with eight. Keeping him alive too dangerous." The circle all nodded and they began to walk down a narrow tunnel until they reached a dimly lit room. Siegfried followed along with them, knowing nothing he did would impact any of these events. Eventually they came to a room with a large red glowing spiral pattern drawn to the floor, along with several other various symbols he couldn't make out. In the center of it all was Naruto, chained down staring at the ceiling. The nine spread out and encircled him, then the one Siegfried began to know as "Itachi" stepped forward.

The boy, clearly awake snapped his head up.

"Let me go, damn you!" he yelled in frustration. Itachi, clearly apathetic, stepped forward and looked down coldly.

"You are not going to be as useful as we had intended. Now you may die." A burst of lightning shot out from Itachi's hand as he thrust it straight through Naruto's stomach. His screams suddenly filled the cavern walls as if to bring them down on their own. Suddenly he simply stopped. Naruto's lifeless eyesgazed up at the cavern roof. Before Itachi could turn around, an explosion rang out behind him. Seven of the nine quickly ran back the way they had come at full speed, but Itachi and a blue skinned man remained behind.

"Itachi-san… it appears we are being raided. Should we defend the body here or retreat?" Itachi looked at the corpse in front of him for a moment.

"No. They will not be able to use that corpse in any case. Let's go."

In less then a second they had vanished completely and the room was stormed by opposing ninjas. Siegfried recognized them as Konoha ninjas, and the one leading them as the Fifth Hokage. At least thirty ninja had rushed through the caverns past her as she froze when she saw Naruto's body. Another gray haired ninja wearing a mask had stopped and run over to Naruto's side. He started checking Naruto for a pulse or any sign of life.

'_That must be… Ka… Kakashi?'_

Tsunade started trembling at the sight. She finally managed to kneel down next to him.

"Is he…?" Tsunade barely muttered.Kakashi shook his head sadly.

"He is still warm, but there is no pulse. We were… just too late." Tears started to form up in Tsunade's eyes but she forced them back. She unzipped the top portion of Naruto's jacket to reveal her old necklace.

"I… never wanted to wear this thing again." Kakashi nodded trying to hold himself back as well. She snapped it off of the back of Naruto's neck and put it around her own.

"But… I'll never make that mistake again." She said firmly as she stood up.

"I will…. Never forgive them!" She yelled as she took off down the cavern. Kakashi slowly got up and took off after her. Not seen to either of them, after the necklace was removed the circles red glow had been steadily declining to black. Finally, with no oneleft in the room but Naruto's body the circle turned the ground pitch black and swallowed him entirely.

The scenery suddenly changed to a familiar sight. It was one of the roads in the Holy Roman Empire. Just a little further down from where Siegfried had killed his foster father. He looked around to see a green beam of light shoot down from the sky and land only a few feet away from him. It may have been an illusion, but it sent Siegfried flying back regardless. A crater covered in green flames was now before him with his tattered, broken body in the center. His clothing was mostly burned up, and his body was nearly burned to ashes. The whisker marks on his skin has also disappeared as well.

"Why…?" He finally said.

"**Uzumaki Naruto was bound to Kyuubi. When a demon dies, all that remains is his shade. However, a demon destroyed cannot be reborn into his own world again. When such a thing happens, he is expelled to another. His shell was expelled to that world, in that land you call the Roman Empire."**

"So this is… another world?" Siegfried finally started to understand the situation he was in, although his head was still throbbing from absorbing so much information so fast.

**"Yes. This is your home world from… your true self's life."**

"You keep saying that… so… if Naruto died, who am I?"

**"You are his body and nothing else. Even his mind was destroyed. You are a living human created out of desperation from the Kyuubi before it was destroyed, and I am merely a shadow of his former power. I existed then to eventually become the next Kyuubi. However, your stupidity in picking up Soul Edge let that demon blade steal most of my power, so we are both doomed at this point."**

The land suddenly disappeared and he stood in front of the destroyed cage again.

**"Now all I can do is resist the taint of that demon until the day that we both return to nothing and the sword frees itself for the next fool to pick up."** A sort of dark chuckle came from the back of the cage.

**"Which, isn't too long off, I might add."**

"I don't believe that… there has to be a way to keep going on! I refuse to simply let my existence be erased meaninglessly!" This earned another laugh from the demon.

**"You seek to defy your fate? The most you could do is merge with the old you. Beyond that, you are so weak now you have little more then half a year."**

"Then listen up, you damned ghost! That's what I'm going to do! You know how all of this crap works, anyway, so tell me how this is possible!" Siegfried could almost make out an amused smile in the shadows.

**"I will tell you this. That necklace that Naruto… or… 'you' as you may prefer to call him, wore is very special. It is also very cursed."**

"What isn't these days…" Siegfried rolled his eyes.

**"Shut up, Brat. This will have consequences. However, that necklace holds the last remnants of Naruto's soul in this world and will lead you to it, wherever or however it exists."**

"So… Granny Tsunade still wears it…" Siegfried started pacing back and fourth restlessly.

**"Oh, one more thing Brat."** Siegfried stopped and looked over at the cage.

**"You just killed four innocent teenagers. You might want me to help you take control of your body."**

"What!" He suddenly started to panic.

"Why didn't you tell me that before!"

**"Didn't seem very important compared to other things, anyway…"**

"NOT IMPORTANT! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU CONSIDER IMPORTANT!"

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A Crimson haired Siegfried walked slowly up the stairs, sword in hand with a massive killing intent.

Inside the room, Hinata immediately activated her Byukagun as she felt her blood start to freeze. Rikuto had flipped up over his chair and grabbed for the sword by his bed, and even Akamaru and Kiba who could smell the killing intent coming from outside the hall had gotten into a fighting stance. Not knowing what was coming, they all leaned forward in anticipation.

Slowly the knob turned…


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter Six: The Path Opens**_

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The knob slowly turned and everyone held in their breath in anticipation, ready for anything. It creaked open slowly to reveal…

An extremely tired looking, but largely blond Siegfried.

"_Whew"_ Kiba muttered to himself as everyone breathed in a sigh of relief. The others lowered their guard as well.

"Hmm?" Siegfried mumbled as he looked in.

"You all look like you've seen a ghost. Something wrong?" he asked with tired eyes. Everyone stood with blank faces for a long, awkward moment until Hinata of all people finally spoke up.

"Er… No, Siegfried-san… um… it's nothing… so… we'll just be going now…" She squeaked the last part out as she walked by rather fast, averting her eyes from his.

"Er… Yea, hey and sorry about before. I'll have to be catching up to Hinata now. Later!" Kiba said as he rushed out the door, his dog following behind him in a hurry, barking in agreement.

Siegfried's eyes looked over to Rikuto rather sheepishly.

"I wasn't aware I was so scary looking…" he mumbled just loud enough for Rikuto to hear, earning him a short laugh.

Rikuto looked over at him with a rather concerned look.

"Are you feeling alright, Siegfried-san?"

"Huh? Yea… **Why**?" The "why" had sounded more like a statement then an answer, and came in a very low tone.

"Nothing… nothing at all. You just look a bit tired, is all."

"That is true… it has been one of those days, as they say. I will be resting now. **Good night." **The last part coming out in a much deeper tone then usual, he then promptly walked over to his bed and laid down flat on his face, as if he had suddenly passed out. Rikuto walked over to examine him, as he had literally fallen asleep instantly upon hitting the bed.

"Siegfried…san?"

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_Walking alone on a wet rock floor that seemed to go on forever in every direction, the young man carefully eyed his surroundings._

"_**I am here… but where is here? This room filled with an endless emerald mist… It smells of the ocean and the ground feels wet, and something else. I feel as though I have been here before, and yet, even with what I now have access to from my mind, I do not recall any such place before. If I have not been here before, why do I see this place as though I have been here?"**_

_The question puzzled him, but more so was the figure that now approached him. The man was covered in a dark aura and had bright blue eyes. His voice chilled the young blond to the bone._

"**IF YOU CANNOT BECOME ME, NOT EVEN DEATH WITH WAIT FOR YOU IN THE END."**

_Before he could react, the shadow of a man had dissipated into the mist and Siegfried was suddenly thrown back onto the ground with great force. Shocked, he pulled himself to his feat and his sword seemingly appeared from out of nowhere to his hand. It didn't make sense, but Siegfried felt nothing needed to make sense right now. The vapors in the air were changing rapidly and a hiss followed it around. Inside the mist the shape of a thin sword formed for little more then a second and struck at Siegfried from his right side. Unable to fully guard the attack, his arm was cut open and he swung wildly to strike back at his attacker to no avail. As soon as the attack had landed, the enemy had once again vanished. Before he could ponder the situation any further another attack came from his other side cutting into his armor and sending him to the ground._

**"How… How am I supposed to fight an enemy I cannot even see?"**

_But there was no answer. No solution to this problem was going to be given so easily, and another blow struck him at the back of his neck slicing it open wide. His spine taking a serious blow, he felt himself unable to move. Under any normal situation, he would be dead now, but something kept him breathing. The mist was moving around him to his left and his tired eyes tried to follow it but simply couldn't keep up. A sudden strike landed on the right side of his face slicing open his eye and sending him to his knees. Again, he somehow rose to his feat with just enough composure over his body. Still breathing somehow, he further tried to understand how he could endure such attacks._

_The mist continually circled around him towards his left side. Whether something clicked in is head suddenly, or through some unknown reflex or revelation, he swung his sword to the right side of his body as soon as the mist started moving fast again. Much to his surprise, he felt a metallic impact upon the edge of Requiem but saw nothing. Soon enough, his sword slid off of the object he could not even see and the force flew past his right leg cutting into him with such power that his entire body flipped forward and he landed on his back, his head aching in pain from the impact as the mist trailed past him once more. Grasping Requiem tightly, he pulled himself to his feet using it as a crutch._

**"Damned sword… be useful…"** _He said as he used Requiem to pull himself forward._

_The attacks stopped suddenly. A new energy suddenly swelled within him unexplainably. His injuries didn't hurt as much, and his sword felt lighter. He even felt like he could run. Siegfried darted around the battle scene with his right eye as fast as he could with his new permanent handicap. The air began to thin out around him and he could see clearer then ever before. His opponent was circling around him and had taken the form of a red samurai. As the samurai closed in Siegfried brought his sword over his shoulder and struck the samurai down with a lightning speed and power he had never felt before. His opponent shattered into a million particles into the air the moment he hit the ground. He hadn't even noticed it at first; the realization suddenly hit him that he could see out of both eyes ever since everything had gotten clearer._

"**This madness… What is it!" **_He cried out._

_His answer was a deep laughter from a source he could not target. The fog cleared around him now, he took the time to judge his surroundings. He appeared to be in a large cave of some sort, with a big yellow door in front of him and pools of emerald glowing water in every direction. Feeling his right eye throbbing in pain, he ran as fast as he could to the nearest pool of water and stumbled next to it. What he saw was a bloodied face that did not belong to his own. His left eye was deep blue, and his right eye had turned yellow. He splashed some water up desperately to his face to try and wash it out, but blood started to flow endlessly like tears from his eye. He felt sick, and a writhing pain started to engulf his body. His entire right side of his upper body suddenly exploded in a shower of gore as he screamed out, and had been replaced by a large yellow claw with several small red eyes gazing out of his arm at various points. Feeling like a foreign entity altogether, the right half of his body slowly claimed more and more of his body as it seemed to consume away and assimilate his flesh. The air became red like fire so intense he could no longer see…_

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A bright red light irritated the living hell out of his eyes as he woke up more pissed off then he had been in ages. Slowly opening his eyes to the window, which was cruelly allowing the sun to glaze over himself, he slid off his bed in a lazy manner. He felt like simply throwing up. He glared over at Rikuto's empty bed before realizing that his new friend had gone somewhere. Unwillingly he dragged himself over to the bathroom to find it completely empty as well. With a grunt he flipped on the light and stared himself down in the mirror.

"You look like crap, Siegfried…" he mumbled to himself as he brushed a handful of messy hair covering the right side of his face. He stared into the mirror a while. Teal eyes. No crazy yellow. No blood streaming tears. Still a weird scar over his eye.

"Wait a minute!" he said out loud. It was true though; the scar above his eye perfectly matched the blow he had taken in his dream. "I've noticed this scar since I broke away from the cursed sword though… what was this dream… a memory I cannot recall? Could it have just been truly a random dream?" he tried to make sense of the events he had been seeing lately. Too many horrible dreams and out of body experiences had Siegfried messed up lately, and the more he learned from them, the more questions plagued him. Lately though, he was almost becoming numb to the whole ordeal.

Within about five minutes, Siegfried had suited himself back up in his armor and was examining himself in the mirror. Suddenly, the door to the room opened as Rikuto casually strolled in. His eyes met with Siegfried's as he walked past the bathroom, taking notice that Siegfried looked pale as a ghost.

"Good morning Siegfried-san!" Rikuto said cheerfully as he walked past the doorway and opened up the window leading to the balcony.

"Ah, mornin' Kuto…" Siegfried slurred as he stared at himself in the mirror with beaten eyes, still dragging them around unwillingly.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY! Kiba-san!" Rikuto shouted from the balcony.

Siegfried rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed by the fact that he had to be associated with a moron like that Kiba. Ignorant people just put Siegfried in a bad mood by association. Finally curiosity got the better of him and Siegfried walked out onto the balcony to see what Rikuto was calling him for.

"Hey, Rikuto, I don't think he's down there…" Before Siegfried could finish his thought, a gray blur flew past his face and landed on the railing next to him.

"Yo!" Kiba said as he sat almost like a bird perched up on the railing. "I guess Blondie finally woke his ass up, eh?" An un-amused stare was all that followed Siegfried.

_"Is this Kiba really that much of a moron? He sure likes to pick fights… maybe I should knock him off the balcony for fun…"_

_"Even after last night, Kiba-san is still back at it… why do you always do this?"_

_"Heh, The blond guy isn't all that scary. He looks like the type who drools on his pillow when he sleeps. It's going to be a pain baby sitting him…"_

Kiba turned to face Rikuto and started to say something, but before he could make the first word out of his mouth a metal gauntlet swung around hitting the back of his head sending him over the balcony landing into a pair of short bushes.

"S… Siegfried-san!" Rikuto cried out in disbelief.

"What? He had it coming." A faint grumbling sound could be heard from Kiba below in the bushes.

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"So what happened to that girl with the messed up eyes? She out walking your dog?" Siegfried said half-sarcastically as he leaned back on his wooden chair.

"Oy! Show respect! Do you have any idea who she is you bastard!" Kiba barked back as he stood in front of Siegfried with a rather large lump on his head.

"Not really. Can't say I care much, either. Well, she was kinda cute minus those jacked up eyes, but…"

"Siegfried-san, please." Rikuto interrupted him. "She is a member of a very important family in Konoha. It is not wise to go on slandering people you do not know, as it may be bad for future relations." Siegfried laughed out loud as his logic. This kid was more peace loving and feminine then a mother.

"That goes for you too, Kiba-san. Please refrain from blindly making enemies with your own allies…" Kiba stuck his nose up at being babied around by Rikuto. It wasn't any of his business, anyway.

"Heh." Was all the response he gave.

"Besides, you got it backwards, Blondie. Hinata doesn't need to walk Akamaru. Akamaru will walk HER." He said with a chuckle.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rikuto shook his head at Siegfried and sighed.

"You don't understand yet, Siegfried-san. You'll see soon enough. Anyway, since Siegfried-san is awake now, it is a good time to fill him in, yes?" Kiba nodded, and Siegfried simply looked around confused.

"Huh?"

"We talked it over, and Kiba and Hinata would be willing to take you to Konoha provided we help them with a mission."

"Mission? What kind of mission?" Siegfried said with a hint of curiosity.

"Retrieval and punishment." Said Kiba firmly.

"Ah… explain? Heh." Kiba sighed.

"Alright… about a week or so ago, an incident happened at the Lord of the Fire Countries castle, and a certain individual made off with a number of jewels and valuables. Most importantly, a very important necklace was stolen, and he wants it back. Badly. The thief has been tracked down to an area east of here, not very far from this location, but it looks like he may not be working alone. We were a little uneasy to go at this alone, but now that Seiryuu is here, this may be a lot easier then we expected."

This caused Siegfried to raise an eyebrow.

"Seir –" But before Siegfried could finish the word, Rikuto cut him off.

"He means me. It's a long story, don't worry about it. Anyway, I don't think my being here is going to improve or decrease your chances of success in this mission Kiba-san. You usually do fine work on your own anyway."

"Are you kidding me Rikuto? You're good. Way better then me or Hinata for that matter, and you know why this matters a great deal!" Rikuto shrugged reluctantly.

"I'm not all that amazing… but I will go with you, especially if it means Siegfried-san gets passage into Konoha."

Siegfried couldn't believe his ears. This little guy had such huge standing with that moron? His skin looked like it had never seen a scrape of battle, or a day of hard work. His eyes looked soft, like he'd never seen a violent act in all of his life. His hair was long and girly almost.

_'I'm ranked… below HIM…?'_ Siegfried thought to himself.

'_Oh no… I think Kiba-san may have injured Siegfried's pride a little with all that…'_

_'Heh heh… psychological warfare, you bastard!'_

"Enough of this ass kissing!" Siegfried finally said.

"Details. What do you know about the thief?" he barked sharply.

"Not much, unfortunately. We were able to track him through other sources, but only one credible guard was able to tell us anything of value as he was the only one who managed to actually lock swords with him. Apparently, the thief is pretty notorious in other countries and goes by different nicknames wherever he goes. His most notable trait is that one of his arms is made out of wood, though." Finishing his explanation, Kiba crashed over the corner of a bed.

"A wooden arm?" Siegfried echoed.

"Yea, that's what I said. Why?"

"Nothing… that just… sounds familiar somehow."

"Yea, well, like I said, this guy gets around a lot. Anyway, this is a very important mission. We don't get a lot of direct missions from the Lord of the Fire Country himself. Not for anything like this, anyway, and we need to make a lasting impression. So you in or what?"

Siegfried closed his eyes and thought to himself.

_'A wooden arm…'_

A small grin appeared off the side of Siegfried's face.

"Alright. Let's go meet up with your freaky eyed girlfriend and hit the road." Siegfried said smiling as a hint of irritation lit up Kiba's face.

"G-Girlfriend…? Oy!" Rikuto couldn't help but silent laugh a bit on the inside to that.

"Oh, and while we're out, make sure you keep an eye open for any stray teenagers wandering the roads." Rikuto added.

"Teenagers? What do you mean?" Siegfried inquired. Kiba too, looked a little bit lost.

"Oh, it's nothing major really we need to worry about. I was just talking to the inn lady earlier before you woke up, and she just hasn't seen her son since dinner last night, so she's a bit worried they did something stupid and got lost somewhere."

Siegfried's face darkened.

"…Right…"


End file.
